


Therapy

by CaptainCiella



Category: Free!
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff, Yamazaki Sousuke's Shoulder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 07:30:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19942465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainCiella/pseuds/CaptainCiella
Summary: My condoleances to KyoAni staff and prayers for their recovery. I'm devastated since this happened. Their heart-warming and quality works inspire me and knowing that this was destroyed breaks my heart. I wish them to rest in peace and my support goes to them. #KyoAniStrong---





	Therapy

**Author's Note:**

> My condoleances to KyoAni staff and prayers for their recovery. I'm devastated since this happened. Their heart-warming and quality works inspire me and knowing that this was destroyed breaks my heart. I wish them to rest in peace and my support goes to them. #KyoAniStrong
> 
> \---

Even if it hurts, never give up. This was your motto since your childhood and it ended up by being injured. 

It was in the middle of the final year of your high school year. You got injured after a few months of intensive training. At first sight, there was no injury but after a medical check, the doctor found out that your muscles had not recovered well after an intense effort. You stretched after every training but it seemed that it wasn’t enough. You only had two or three injuries that needed a long rest when you were adolescent. Your bones hurt but you didn’t pay much attention: after all, you were growing up, it was normal. Thus, you didn’t go to some training but it wasn’t for long and you didn’t realise at the time how much swimming meant to you. 

You practiced swimming since you were in primary school. At first, it was just a simple activity after class that your parents advised to do. They brought you to a swimming class to try and you stayed. For more than ten years, you remained in this class and you took part in the swimming club of your school. Your parents didn’t force you and you didn’t feel obliged— they told you could stop anytime it wouldn’t bother them, it was your choice after all. Yet, you never stopped. You didn’t feel the need to stop nor to continue. Swimming eventually became part of your routine like eating and sleeping. It was part of your life and nothing could take it away from you. Your friends and your family knew how much swimming meant to you. After your injury, it hurt them to see you depressed and hopeless. They encouraged you to enrol in a swimming teaching course next year in university to keep a link with your passion but you refused. 

Soon after your injury, instead of dozing off in your bed, you decided to train younger swimmers. After a few sessions, you just couldn’t bear the feeling of not being able to show movements or to simply dive into the pool to swim with them. You couldn’t stand looking at them with jealousy and a lump in your throat. Some tears were about to flow on your cheeks and it was a struggle to hold them back.

Thus, you couldn’t picture yourself training other swimmers in the future. You were the one competing, not the one watching and giving advice. You knew that swimming was a passion but not something you could make a living. It was a hobby that became a passion. You noticed it too late, soon before your injury. Conscious of your level, you knew that it was impossible for you to be at a national level or more, even though you liked competing, it wasn’t enough. Moreover, due to your injury, it was even more impossible. Even in university, your doctor told you that your body couldn’t handle again an intense effort if you didn’t do rehabilitation exercises.

After your injury, you gradually accepted that you couldn’t participate in tournaments anymore. You couldn’t swim again in the centre of a crowd cheering and shouting for their school. You had to abandon the feeling of being alive in the water, the freedom you felt underwater. You had to say goodbye to your teammates who became your best friends over the ten years and with whom you became a strong relay team and to your trainer who always encouraged you. In the past, you believed that this day would never come. It was still far away from your young, naïve mind. Even though you would leave your hometown for the university, you thought that you could always go back to meet them and to swim with them. You never imagined that an injury could destroy all your prospects and dreams.

Actually, you could still swim after your recovery. It wasn’t as if you became paralysed and after a rehabilitation, you could swim in competitions again. You understood that it meant that you had to train at a slow pace, going easy on you, even though it wasn’t what it meant. Of course you knew that you had to be careful with your body, to take your time and to stretch properly but a part of you refused to do so, too eager to swim at full speed like you used to do. It was better to give up instead of trying to go easy on yourself.

––– 

During your rest, you took your time to meet up with your friends in cafés, since you refused so many times. Some of them were also practising swimming but they did their best to not mention the subject with you. You soon met up with Sousuke Yamazaki who had been recently transferred to Samezuka Academy and joined the swimming club. He never showed up in training, though. You hadn’t got an opportunity to get to know him.

After a long conversation with him, you learned that he suffered from an injury to his shoulder. He over-trained as you did and was paying its consequences. Unlike you, he didn’t lose hope about swimming competitively again, even though he thought about quitting soon after his injury. It seemed useless to go on the path of global competitive swimming when the body once gave up. It would never be the same. You soon became friends with him and he even convinced you to do daily rehabilitation stretches and massages to help your body recover more quickly.

During these massage sessions, you talked about swimming but also your future. He admitted that he regretted not being able to take part in high school tournament for his final year. You could relate this feeling of dissatisfaction since you could no longer take part in tournaments due to your injury. You could still swim but it was not the same as swimming competitively. You missed that feeling of winning a race and shouting your victory while congratulating your opponents— you liked participating in relays with your friends and sharing the victory with them. Now, you couldn’t enjoy that feeling nor encourage your teammates in tournaments, since watching them hurt you, reminding you that swimming was damaging your body. Listening to Sousuke planning to compete in higher levels made you feel bitter and slightly jealous. Yet, you never told him and somehow, you felt that you could live his future life through his words. They had the power to make you feel everything was possible. You wanted him to realise what your dream may have been if you had realised how important swimming became for you during the few last years. That may be why you wanted to support him by helping his daily massages and stretching.

Your conversations often drifted onto your insecurities— it was relaxing to talk with Sousuke and words were flowing smoothly, there was no taboo with him. You told him how much you hated your body to be so frail and how much you hated yourself being over-dramatic— tears and nights spend crying not because of your pain in your body but because you couldn’t allow yourself being passive and wait for your body to forget the injury while watching your teammates freely swimming. You simply wished that you had a stronger body fitted to sports. You had to take yourself in hand but you couldn’t find motivation. Sousuke encouraged to do your rehabilitation exercises seriously and helped you to be patient to wait for your complete recovery.

Time spent in cafés or helping each other rehabilitation made you think about your future since you talked a lot about it with the entry exams to come. You still had no idea of your studies after high school. You didn’t think about swimming but it was what first popped in your mind and that you knew you could never achieve even after your recovery. You couldn’t think about anything else. Every time you met up with Sousuke, it was the same rant about your future. You tried to avoid the subject of sports and prospects with all your might. Unlike you, he had firm ideas and knew that he would be swimming next year and you had to admit that you were jealous of him.

“You’ll eventually find out. It’s never too late, don‘t worry,” Sousuke reassured you, patting your head.

It can be too late, you added mentally. It was soon the entry exams application deadline and you still haven’t applied for any university nor prepared the exams.

His hand slowly moved onto your cheek, stroking it gently— you felt your heart skip a beat. Recently, you remarked these kinds of touch became more and more frequent and usual. It didn’t bother you; on the contrary, you liked when he touched you in that way. You could forget everything and you felt safe with him. He was the only one you could talk about your insecurities.

“Since you like swimming, why not study what is related to swimming...? No, to sports in general?” he proposed, his mind wandering, trying to find a job for you.

Teaching was impossible for you. Neither did you have the confidence to teach properly nor the will. Teaching was a vocation, a philosophy that wasn’t fit for you. You didn’t want to see younger swimmers doing the same mistake as you: overworking until the body gives up. 

Still, time was rushing and you needed to find a path very soon or you would be condemned to underpaid part-time jobs.

Spending your time with Sousuke helped you to relax a bit and to forget about your injury. Your pain started to vanish and you noticed that you weren’t as dramatic as before. In the meantime, miraculously, you somehow found out what you wanted to study at university. You applied just before the deadline and prepared yourself for the exams.  
It took time but you found out. At first, it seemed contrary to your philosophy but you admitted that you wanted to do that. In the future, you wanted to help sportsmen and sportswomen to avoid injury and help them to recover them. Hours spent with Sousuke led you to this choice. You wanted him to continue his passion and to support him in your way but also to help other sportsmen and sportswomen to be able to compete again even after severe injuries.

You’ve fallen in love at the same time. It sounded silly to you. Who thought that from a small friendship you could fall in love? Going to cafés, helping him with his stretching, never-ending late-night conversations.... it seemed so anecdotal and it could never go further than a casual friendship.   
You haven’t noticed yourself enjoying your meetings. You didn’t notice how much you paid attention to your appearance. You didn’t notice that you asked yourself the basic question of a girl in love: what does he like? does he prefer skirts or dresses? should I put makeup on? what kind of perfume does he like? 

You haven’t told him yet. You couldn’t find the timing between your intensive revision sessions and your daily stretching. You were afraid to lose the stability of your friendship. What if your feelings were unrequited? Moreover, you didn’t want to disturb him from his studies nor did you have time to do so. You wanted to avoid a possible emotional shock in the period of your exams. 

You waited. Eventually, you forgot that you had to tell him. Was it necessary? You enjoyed spending your time with him. Moreover, you didn’t want to break the stability of your friendship. You naturally kept in touch with him — he got accepted to a university in Tokyo, close to yours. Moreover, it wasn’t difficult since your universities were both in Tokyo and your mutual friends met at least once a week. 

A few weeks after the entry ceremony, your old high school swimming club members gathered in a small restaurant to celebrate the success of Sousuke’s surgery and to wish him victory for his future competitions although he had to undergo a long process of rehabilitation.

You enjoyed seeing your friend talking about swimming since it’s been a while since you haven’t seen them. It surprised you— a few months ago you couldn’t stand a conversation about swimming but now, you had fun and even took part in the discussion. You were busy with exams and barely had time to meet them during weekends. During these months of intensive revisions, you even forgot about your injury even though you were doing your daily stretching every day before going to bed. The pain had disappeared and you hoped that you could swim soon. Tournaments would wait for a bit more but you wished you could compete during your university years. 

Your friends got eventually pretty drunk and you were left sober alone, as always. Even Gou followed them and you pouted at her, hiding a friendly smile. 

“Looks like we’re the only ones sober,” Sousuke said, startling you.

He left the group a few minutes ago discreetly to go to the bathroom but since your friends and you were busy talking, no one noticed him. He sat next to you on the tatami mat, moving one of your friend who was half asleep. 

“Well, it’s pretty lively here!”  
“Yeah. It’s been a while since we haven’t met up.”  
“How’s your injury by the way?”  
“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” you said. “I think I can soon swim again.”  
“That’s nice! I’m looking forward to swimming with you!”  
“So am I!”  
“But don’t force yourself, okay? Stop when it hurts.”  
“I know, don’t worry!”

He leaned against the wall behind him, brushing unconsciously your fingers— brushing that ended up lasting forever since he kept his hand on top of yours. You tried to hide your flushed cheeks by looking away but he immediately caught your attention to him.

“It’s all thanks to you, (Name).”  
“Not at all!” you scolded him with a frown. “I just helped a little.”  
“No!”

Every time you disagreed with him, you got into friendly arguments. It was only an exchange of “yes” and “no” or of “you’re wrong!” and “no, you’re wrong!” and it lasted a few minutes until you both give up to argue for nothing. 

“Pfft! You’re always like that, please accept that you did more than you think!” Sousuke grinned and gently ruffled your hair. 

You both laughed and you accepted his statement. The more you laughed, the messier he made your hair by ruffling it. You felt your cheeks burning and no matter what you could think of to hide them, it was useless. 

“That’s why I love you (Name)!”

He naturally kissed your forehead. His lips brushed it so lightly that you hadn’t realised it before his hand moved onto your nape and feel your cheeks burning. He kissed you. 

“I’m sorry, what?” you shouted, confused. 

His words took you aback. You felt your cheeks reddening and your throat was too dry to make a sound, even a “huh?!” of surprise. His eyes were locked on you and waited for your answer. You could see that he wasn’t joking— he would never on such a topic. 

“I... I’m in love with you!”  
“Are you drunk already?” you asked even though you knew he wasn’t.  
“I’m not!”

You were so confused but also filled with joy that you couldn’t realise whether it was a dream or not. It went too smoothly and although you wanted to shout “I love you too!” on the top of your lungs, you still wanted to make sure you heard these three words correctly and in that order. 

“Do I have to repeat it?” he asked, pinching your cheeks.  
“Yes, please!” you shyly asked, looking away.  
“Don’t look away,” he whispered, shifting his eyes away. “You’re making it even more embarrassing.”  
“Sorry then. T—Tell me then.”  
“(Name) I... I have feelings for you. We spent so much together lately and you’ve been a big support for me even though you struggled on your own during an important period of your life. I... I want to support you as well from now on (Name). I—“  
“You’ve been helping more than you think Sousuke, you know. Everything you said was my lines,” you replied with a shy smile.   
“Everything?”  
“Everything. I’m not dreaming huh?”  
“You’re not,” he reassured, his hand travelling down your spine, bringing you closer.  
“‘Love you, Sousuke,” you confessed.

As a reply, he smiled, over-the-moon and caressed your cheek. 

“May I kiss you?”


End file.
